I track people who are disrupting the world of mobile technology. Non-conformists, innovators and agitators are this blog's unsung heroes, from entrepreneurs to scientists, to rebellious hackers. I'm the author of "We Are Anonymous: Inside the Hacker World of LulzSec, Anonymous and the Global Cyber Insurgency", (Little Brown, 2012) which The New York Times called a "lively, startling book that reads as 'The Social Network' for group hackers." I recently relocated to Forbes' San Francisco office, and was previously Forbes' London bureau chief from 2008-12, interviewing British billionaires like Philip Green and controversial figures like Mohammed Al Fayed; I wrote last year's billionaires cover story on Russia's Yuri Milner, and have broken stories like the Facebook-Spotify partnership in 2011. Before all this I had stints at the BBC and as a radio journalist. You can watch me on 'The Daily Show' here. If you have a story idea or tip, e-mail me at polson@forbes.com or follow me on Twitter: parmy.

CEO Says BlackBerry Sued Typo Because The Keyboard 'Is Our Identity'

BlackBerry is fighting for its rightful place in in the smartphone market, especially when it comes to keyboards.

Last Friday the company filed a lawsuit against Typo, an LA-based startup that makes a physical keyboard accessory for the iPhone. Co-founded by American Idol presenter Ryan Seacrest, the $99 device snaps onto the iPhone 5 and 5S like a normal case, but extends the phone by half an inch in length with a physical keyboard. The lawsuit describes the Typo as “a blatant infringement against BlackBerry’s iconic keyboard.”

John Chen, who stepped in as BlackBerry’s new CEO on Nov. 4, 2013, spoke publicly about the lawsuit for the first time in an interview with Forbes this week, calling it a move to protect BlackBerry’s rights.

“[The] keyboard is our identity,” he said. “If you copy our keyboard, of course we need to assert that right… If somebody wants to license it they’re welcome to do that, but they can’t just take it.”

Physical QWERTY keyboards have been a legacy feature for years for BlackBerry phones, and people who continue to use its devices in the face growing competition from AppleApple and Samsung, say they still love those physical keys and can’t live without them.

Hence Typo could be a problem for BlackBerry if it takes off. The keyboard starts shipping later this month, and while Typo won’t share pre-order numbers, it claims to have sold out of its first batch of devices.

Other handset manufacturers like NokiaNokia and Samsung have created phones with physical keyboards too, but it was also hard not to notice during demonstrations of the Typo keyboard at CES, that the gadget appeared, effectively, to turn an iPhone into a BlackBerry.

In his recent review oft the Typo, Sascha Segan at PC Mag called it “the best alternative for people who desperately miss popular QWERTY phones,” but added that for all of Typo’s vigorous denials of copying BlackBerry, “it’s just like typing on a BlackBerry Bold… the subtle sculpting on the edges to prevent mis-typing gives it away.”

Typo’s CEO and co-founder, Laurence Hallier, dismissed Chen’s comments. “He says he has a monopoly on keyboards?” Hallier said on the sidelines of CES 2014. “We don’t believe we’ve violated any of BlackBerry’s patents, and we did do due diligence. We’re gong to defend this vigorously.”

BlackBerry CEO John Chen; photo via Flickr / JD Lasica

Hallier said he found out about the lawsuit last Friday morning after reading about it in press reports. He got a copy of the lawsuit later that day.

Hallier, who has been friends with Seacrest for the last decade, said they started Typo two years ago when the pair were at a restaurant and marveled at the four separate smartphones they had laid out on the table before them. They each had one phone for typing, and another for apps. Hallier and Seacrest went on to become the startup’s primary backers, putting a total $1 million into the company to date.

Hallier hopes to have a tablet product ready this year.

Keyboards will play a key role in BlackBerry’s forthcoming products, as the company sticks it out in the consumer smartphone business with a renewed focus on enterprise mobility. Chen recently tied up a non-exclusive manufacturing partnerships with Foxconn which could see BlackBerry release a new touch-screen smartphone under $200 later this year, as well as a phone with a traditional keyboard that will be designed by BlackBerry.

“It’s not a negative message per se,” Chen said of the Typo lawsuit. “The keyboard is going to be a big part of our future.”

Post Your Comment

Post Your Reply

Forbes writers have the ability to call out member comments they find particularly interesting. Called-out comments are highlighted across the Forbes network. You'll be notified if your comment is called out.

Comments

Lot of wonderful publicity for BlackBerry. Interesting to see how many people are, finally, admitting that the keyboard on iPhone are not very good. Eve a number of the most ardent IPhone bloggers have admitted as much.

The bottom line is that BlackBerry has the best typing experience on both their Qwerty keyboard phones that Typo is trying to rip off (CEO of company admitted that they don’t even have a patent for this product…oops), and the best typing experience on touchscreen keyboards on the BlackBerry Z10 and Z30.

I just got paid $6784 working on my laptop. Since I started freelancing over this site, with a little effort I easily bring in around $45 to $85 per/h! This is the easiest and most financially rewarding job I’ve ever had. I actually started 8 months ago and this has totally changed my life. Source……. Bay87.C(om)

I personally would love to see the return of a physical keyboard. If this product was available for the Nokia 925 I’d buy it on the spot. I will say that the iPhone has what I find to be the worst keyboard ever so this product is a true blessing for iPhone owners.

The majority of people had no problem transitioning, adapting to on-screen keyboard. If you tell them to buy a phone with physical kb, they’ll laugh. For Blackberry to employ a physical key board on their phone is like telling people “hey, we’re putting a bell on a dying cow.”

I don’t care what other people want. The option of having this snap-on keyboard is nothing but a plus. Don’t want it then don’t buy it. Nobody is telling anyone they have to buy something. Rather, Typo is offering a choice. Choices, especially good ones are nice to have.

Not gonna happen. This product is getting axed. Or significantly changed to not look like a BlackBerry keyboard…http://periscopepost.com/technology-22/ripping-off-blackberry-crackberry-kevin-goes-fingers-on-with-the-typo-keyboard-for-iphone-1468.html

They don’t claim to “won” the keyboard. They claim that Typo has blatantly copied their keyboard which is a part of their brand identity. Which they did and which it is. It’s impossible to not see that.

There are an infinite number of formats for a keyboard. They chose keys that look like BlackBerry keys, arranged like BlackBerry keys, in rows separated by frets. It was deliberate.

Luckily for John Chen this isn’t politics or religion. Despite what many think, a persons choice of smartphone isn’t a personal statement. His job is to right the ship and one of the qualifications wasn’t “current BlackBerry user”.

Relatively speaking, the brand of smartphone he carried is about as relevant as his brand of toothpaste.

As soon as you view the Typo product next to a Bold, it’s extremely obvious that they flat out copied the keyboard. If Apple can successfully defend rounded corners, there is no doubt in my mind that BlackBerry can defend the 3D shaping and layout of their keyboard. We aren’t talking about flat keys here….

This is clearly an infringement on the BlackBerry brand. Clearly. Right down to the frets on the keyboard. Hallier knows it, Seacrest knows it, we all know it. They are just leveraging the publicity to drive awareness and ultimately revenue hoping to use cash to settle after the fact. I hope that BlackBerry sues both founders into the stone age.

Anybody that backed Apple in their infringement suites against Samsung should be woefully ashamed of themselves if they don’t back BlackBerry on this one.

These two blokes got no idea at all what they are doing, just how to put a million in a startup in case Ryan got fired. So they say they got the iidea in the restaurant ?? what a joke!!! What they did is pure copying, not bits of creativity instilled in their product. As US would have punished any made in China knck outs, this shouldn’t have gotten a speical treatment.. It’s time young blokes learnt there is no short cuts for success..

You invented the keyboard, are you going to sue all the other bluetooth keyboards I use with my phone too I see you jumped right on apple. Your the reason we have no jobs my you burn in the bad place. I hope I get to stoke the fire.

if I understand you correctly, you are claiming that BlackBerry stated that they “invented” the keyboard? if that is what you meant, i kindly ask you to reread their claim against Typo, please. there is no need for these types of false or mistaken accusations, they do nothing but insight useless discussion. essentially, BlackBerry did not in any way shape or form claim to have invented the keyboard, but rather they stated Typo has blatantly copied “BlackBerry’s iconic design”. This is certainly within reason, understaning that a qwerty keyboard can be designed with an almost innumberable shape and style. whereas Typo’s keyboard is an almost exact duplicate to a Q10 and Bold keyboard.

The reason there’s no jobs is the practitioner of Cloward-Piven in DC. 92 million people out of work yet claiming that after 74k jobs were created last month (lol) the unemployment rate is now 6.7%? Bollocks.

Listen BlackBerry. I don’t like you. I will never like you. You guys make shitty phones with nice keyboards. I want an iPhone with a nice keyboard. until you’re willing to make an iPhone with a nice keyboard, I don’t want to hear you complain about how I’m not entitled to an iPhone with a nice keyboard. I will never get a shitty phone with a nice keyboard, and therefore I will never get a BlackBerry.